What are some of the best skateboard games you can play with your friends? 

Welcome to my blog, I hope you've landed on this page looking to find a cool skateboard game to play with your friends and to be clear I'm not talking about a console game either. I am referring to a hands-on real-life skateboard game using an actual real-life skateboard and ya know, real-life people. 

Even if you came here first looking for a suggestion for console games, please stick around I think you may find a few good ideas for some cool skating games you can play outside with your friends for endless hours of fun throughout the year. No one is ever too old to play, and if someone tells you they are, x them out of your life because no one has time for negativity like that disrupting your natural life.

The way I like to start these things off is to give you a little run down of what we will be covering so that you can easily grasp and comprehend the content, and also to make sure I stay on track. Which at times can be the more difficult of the two. 

So let's go ahead and get the board rollin'... 

We will be covering the following topics:

• The Game S.K.A.T.E
• A Variation of it Called, 'Battle at the Berrics'
• Made Up Games
• Air Challenge
• Downhill Challenge
• X-Games

The Game of S.K.A.T.E

S.K.A.T.E is a simple game similar to the game H.O.R.S.E. If you ever played that on the b-ball court you'd pick this game up quickly. To give you a little background history, and not so much to bore you, but this game was first played in the early 70's when skating really began to take off.

A few dudes you may know, you might not, played this game for the first time and would be known as the pioneers of this fun game. This was Neil Blender, John Lucero, and Lance Mountain known to the world as vertical skateboarders. Coulda guessed that with Lance Mountain, with a gnarley ass name like Mountain you'd think that you gotta be scaling cliffs or doing something extreme just for the namesake. 

Even in 2003, a professional event took place for the Game of S.K.A.T.E put on by Eric Koston, and was the first tournament-style head to head event for this game. This led to eventually expanding globally in 2004 with both professional and amateur divisions.

Ok... Ok... Enough History Let's Get Down to the Basics...

S.K.A.T.E Rules

As I said earlier the rules are simplistic. A player is first chosen to go first. This may be the hardest part, flip the board for it, flip a coin, pray about it, roll some dice if you got some, someone, anyone just has to go first. 

1. The player who went first is the one who "sets the trick" (this player can choose to do any trick they want, you just have to make sure you land it, and do your best to make it as difficult as possible, the next person is going to have to attempt to replicate it)
2. Keep in mind if you are unable to land the trick, the turn moves on to the next person, they then get a shot to set their own trick where you would have to attempt to copy the trick they do
3. Once the trick is set by a player, as mentioned before the other player attempts to perform the same exact trick identically in their first try, if they make it the game continues and no letters are assigned to either player, if they fail to land the trick they get a letter, starting with the letter 'S', the first letter of the word (The first player to get all letters and spell out the word S.K.A.T.E loses the game and maybe a small piece of their dignity) This means a player can only have 5 missed attempts at landing the other person's trick before losing ending the game
4. This game is best played with two people, any more people can make it a bit difficult
5. A player can not set a trick that has already been set as a trick before in the game
6. What can make things a little fun is when on your last letter you have a form of redemption and receive two attempts to land the trick instead of the usual one
7. The last man standing is declared the final winner
8. If you win and didn't receive any letters you are said to have "blanked, or to have skunk'd" your opponent 
9. If as 'player b' you were unable to set a single trick through the duration of the game the winner can claim what they call a "Perfect Whitewash" 

Battle at the Berrics

This game almost sounds like you're going into war, but don't worry we're talking about 'The Berrics', not the barracks. This version of S.K.A.T.E is an updated variation held at the Berrics, a skate park located in Los Angeles, CA. 

They abide by the following rules:

1. The game can only be played on flat ground, but that does not mean that everything landed on flat ground counts
2. You can never have your feet on the ground when performing tricks, under any circumstances, which means...
3. No Complys
4. No Bonelesses
5. No Grabs
6. No "Malto Manual Bullshit" as they refer to it
7. No doing tricks that slide on the ground, if your opponent popped their trick 
8. The last letter still gets two tries
9. Offensive toe drag gets one do-over
10. Defensive toe drag has a bigger margin for error but it is up to the referee's final decision on the matter
11. If the person who set the trick didn't pop it, but landed it the trick will still count

This version is quite a bit more intense, but adding more rules as you become more advanced is always a good idea, not only does it make it more fun and competitive, but it will ultimately make you a better skater. 

Made Up Games

Made up games are just as simple as the name. Skateboarding is a sport of creativity conjured up over the years by some of the most inventive and imaginative minds. As you delve further into skating you'll find yourself becoming more creative and begin to create even some of your very own tricks, maybe not at the caliber of Rodney Mulllen, but you will begin to do things you didn't even think could be accomplished by physics. 

When I was growing up, some of the games we would create would be as easy as having a little competition on who could build the best ramp, or who could do the coolest trick.

The Air Challenge...

This game is so easy I'm sure you can figure it all by yourself without me explaining it. With the air challenge, you can use some of the ramps you created, setting them toward the bottom of your driveway, picking up speed, and seeing just how high you can shoot off the end of the ramp. 

                                                                                                            Now in order to ensure no biased review of the result, it is important to have someone acting as a referee or to have a camera in place to assess the height. Playback the video recording in slow-mo and use a landmark like a tree to gauge the height.                                                                                                                                                                              You can also set up items of varying heights in front of the ramp to determine the height the skater was able to reach. Some skateparks have different rulers placed by the halfpipes to see the height you were able to reach. See what creative ways you can get the most air. 

The Downhill Challenge...

This competition can also be a bit dangerous so please always express caution while performing stunts and wear all necessary safety equipment, though I know you prolly won't because your too cool for school, right bruhh?

With the downhill challenge you want to find the gnarliest hill you can find that is paved. You want to make sure the paved road is also smooth, free of bumps, potholes, debris, garbage etc.

When assessing the area you also want to ensure that at the end of the decline that you have plenty of room in front of it to make up for your forward momentum. You don't want to pick up some gnarley speed, get a sick ride, and run straight into a tree. When skating you always want to look well ahead of you for any obstacles, or pedestrians. Don't be afraid to bail if you have to, always better safe then sorry. 

Also, make sure when performing these stunts to make sure it is well lit, it is a bad idea to try to do this at night. You want to make sure you have a full visual of exactly what you're getting yourself into. 

And Finally, the Highly Sought After X-Games!!!

The X-Games are basically the Olympics for skaters and extreme sports. ANy skater with a dream to become pro wants to be able to perform in the X-Games. It's is a bucket list item that any true, passionate skater would love to be able to do, even once. 

Many people only know about the X-Games because of skating, but the X-Games are an annual extreme sports event put on by ESPN first held 23 years ago, in 1995. Participants compete for three types of medals, the bronze, silver, and gold, as well as prize money, because what would it be without the money. Various types of events are held which you can find below. 

Red Bull Phenom

• Mountain Bike Slopestyle
• Skateboard Street

Skateboarding

• Skateboard Vert
• Men's Skateboard Park
• Women's Skateboard Park
• Street League Skateboarding
• SLS Select Series
• Women's Skateboard Street
• Skateboard Big Air

The X Games is an annual extreme sports event hosted, produced, and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Newport, Rhode Island. Participants compete to win bronze, silver, and gold medals, as well as prize money.